AUTHOR PLATFORM BUILD
Build the marketing foundation behind your author career.
Your website shouldn’t have to be reinvented every time you publish another book.
Author Platform Build is for independent authors who are ready for a stronger foundation: a strategic WordPress website, clearer reader journey, email audience foundation, discoverability setup and the tools to understand how those pieces are working together.
Not just somewhere to put your books.
A platform built to support the author career you’re building around them.
Starting at $2,495 CAD
Platform Strategy • WordPress Website • Audience & Discoverability
THE CONNECTED PLATFORM
Strategy • Website • Audience • Growth
MORE THAN AN AUTHOR WEBSITE
A website is one piece of your platform.
A good author website matters.
But on its own, it can’t do everything.
Readers still need ways to discover you. They need to understand what you write, explore your books and know where to go next. If they’re interested, they need a way to stay connected with you.
And you need enough information behind the scenes to understand whether the system you’re building is actually doing its job.
That’s why Author Platform Build doesn’t begin with:
IT DOESN’T BEGIN WITH:
“What should your website look like?”
IT BEGINS WITH:
“What does your author platform need to do?”
THIS MIGHT BE FOR YOU IF…
You’re building an author career—not just launching a website.
Author Platform Build is designed for published independent authors and authors with a confirmed upcoming release who want a professional foundation they can continue building on.
It may be a good fit if:
- You don’t currently have a professional author website.
- You’ve outgrown a basic DIY site and replacing it makes more sense than continuing to patch it.
- Your website, email list and other marketing pieces feel disconnected.
- You want readers to have a clearer path through your books and series.
- You’re ready to start building an audience you can stay connected with outside social platforms.
- You want foundational SEO and analytics built into the platform rather than added as an afterthought.
- You’re thinking beyond one release and want a digital foundation that can support future books.
- You want the core system built for you, but you also want to understand what you’re receiving and how to use it.
You don’t need to have your entire author career mapped out.
But you should be ready to build something intended to last beyond your next launch.
BUILD AROUND THE READER
Your platform should help readers know what to do next.
The website at the centre of your platform is built around the same reader journey I use throughout Rise & Shine:
01 • ARRIVE
Discover
Readers find you or one of your books.
02 • ORIENT
Understand
They quickly understand what you write and whether your work might be for them.
03 • BROWSE
Explore
They can easily browse your books, series and relevant information.
04 • ACT
Choose
They know where to buy, read or take the next appropriate step.
05 • CONNECT
Stay Connected
If they want more from you, there’s an obvious way to remain part of your audience.
Discover → Understand → Explore → Choose → Stay Connected
Instead of designing a collection of pages and hoping readers figure out how to use them, we’ll build the platform around that journey from the beginning.
FOUR CONNECTED PIECES
The platform works because the pieces work together.
Author Platform Build brings together four core components.
01
Platform Strategy
Before building pages, we’ll establish what the platform needs to accomplish.
We’ll look at your books, series, audience, author brand, existing marketing and longer-term goals so the site has a strategic job beyond simply existing.
This becomes the foundation for the structure, reader journey and calls to action we build around.
02
Strategic WordPress Website
You’ll receive a strategically designed WordPress author website customized to your brand and books.
The standard build includes up to six core pages, shaped around what your author platform actually needs.
That may include pages such as:
- Home
- About
- Books
- Individual book or series content
- Resources or News, where appropriate
- Contact
The exact structure will be confirmed during strategy.
The goal isn’t to squeeze every author into the same six-page template.
It’s to create a clear, useful structure for your books and readers.
03
Audience Foundation
We’ll create the foundation for turning reader interest into an audience you can continue building.
That includes integrating your email signup into the reader journey and establishing the basic audience pathway around it.
This is the foundation—not an ongoing email marketing service.
04
Discoverability & Measurement
We’ll build foundational discoverability and measurement into the platform from the beginning.
That includes foundational on-page SEO and setup for Google Analytics 4 and Google Search Console so you have a better understanding of how readers are finding and using your site.
You shouldn’t have to rebuild the platform later just to start understanding what’s happening on it.
THE DIGITAL HOME BASE
Beautiful matters. Useful matters more.
Your website should feel like you and your books.
But it also has a job.
We’ll build a WordPress site that’s designed around the way readers actually need to use it—not just around what looks good in a portfolio screenshot.
That means thinking about:
- Clear navigation
- Book and series discovery
- Reading order where relevant
- Calls to action
- Email signup placement
- Internal linking
- Foundational search visibility
- Mobile usability
- Room for future books and content
The visual direction will be customized to your existing author brand and book world without turning the project into a full branding engagement.
The goal is a website that looks intentional because the strategy behind it is intentional.
WHO WRITES THE WORDS?
You know your books. I’ll help you shape the website around them.
The standard Platform Build includes a Guided Website Copy Framework to help you prepare the core content your website needs.
You’ll provide the foundational information, book details, author story and other source material.
I’ll provide strategic direction and light refinement so that content works more effectively within the website structure we’re building.
Full website copywriting is not included in the standard Platform Build.
If you’d prefer more hands-on copy support, it can be scoped separately.
Optional Copywriting Support
Optional full website copywriting: typically $750–$1,200 CAD
Individual additional page copywriting: $175 CAD per page
Any optional copywriting will be confirmed before it’s added to your project.
YOUR PLATFORM BUILD
At the end, you won’t just receive a website.
You’ll receive the core pieces of an author marketing foundation designed to work together.
Platform Strategy
The strategic direction behind your website, reader journey and audience foundation.
Customized WordPress Website
Up to six core pages built around your author brand, books and reader journey.
Audience Foundation
Email signup integration and a basic audience pathway that gives interested readers a clear way to stay connected.
Foundational SEO
On-page foundations that help search engines understand your site and content.
Analytics Setup
Google Analytics 4 and Google Search Console setup so you have access to meaningful website data.
INCLUDED PRODUCT
Indie Author Marketing Dashboard
Your Rise & Shine Dashboard is included so you have somewhere to organize your books, marketing activity, audience growth and performance information.
Guided Website Copy Framework
A structured framework to help you prepare the content your website needs.
Two Revision Rounds
Two consolidated revision rounds are included in the standard project.
Final QA & Launch
Final checks across the agreed site before launch.
Platform Handoff Guide
A practical reference for understanding the platform you’ve received and the important pieces behind it.
60-Minute Handoff Call
We’ll walk through the finished platform, answer questions and make sure you understand how the major pieces work together.
14-Day Post-Launch Support
For 14 days after launch, you can contact me about bugs or clarification related to the completed project.
This is not ongoing website maintenance or ongoing marketing support.
CLEAR SCOPE. BETTER PROJECTS.
Building a foundation doesn’t mean building everything.
Author Platform Build is designed to create the core marketing foundation behind your author career.
The standard project does not include:
- Full author branding or logo development
- Cover design
- Book formatting
- Editing
- Full website copywriting unless added separately
- Ongoing email marketing
- Ongoing SEO
- Paid advertising
- Social media management
- Ecommerce development
- Complex custom integrations
- Custom development outside the agreed build
- Website maintenance after the included support period
- Unlimited revisions
- Ongoing marketing consulting
If your project requires something outside the standard scope, we’ll discuss it before work begins.
No surprise additions. No quietly expanding project.
THE PROCESS
From scattered pieces to a connected platform.
01
Inquire
Tell me about your books, where you are in your author career and what you currently have in place.
02
Fit & Scope
I’ll review what you need and determine whether Platform Build is the right service for the project.
03
Strategy & Content
We’ll establish the platform strategy, site structure and reader journey, and you’ll prepare your core website content using the Guided Website Copy Framework.
04
Design & Build
Your WordPress website and supporting platform foundations are built around the approved strategy.
05
Review & Refine
You’ll have two consolidated revision rounds to review the site and provide feedback.
06
Final QA & Launch
I’ll complete final checks and prepare the platform for launch.
07
Handoff
You’ll receive your Platform Handoff Guide and we’ll meet for a 60-minute handoff call.
08
Post-Launch
You’ll have 14 days of support for project-related bugs and clarification.
Typical project timeline: approximately 4–6 weeks.
DO YOU NEED TO IMPROVE WHAT EXISTS OR BUILD A NEW FOUNDATION?
Not every author needs a new website.
If you already have a viable author website and the foundation is sound, replacing it may be unnecessary.
OPTIMIZE CURRENT SITE
Author Website Rescue
Improve the system you have.
Best when your existing website is fundamentally usable but needs strategic improvement.
Starting at $995 CAD
Up to five existing pages
Strategic optimization
Approx. 2–3 weeks
NEW FOUNDATION
Author Platform Build
Build the system you need.
Best when you don’t have a professional author website, your existing site needs to be replaced or you need the wider audience and marketing foundation built alongside it.
Starting at $2,495 CAD
New WordPress website
Up to six core pages
Platform strategy
Audience foundation
Discoverability & measurement setup
Approx. 4–6 weeks
If you’re not sure which situation you’re in, you don’t need to diagnose it yourself.
Tell me what you currently have and we’ll start there.
YOUR INVESTMENT
Author Platform Build
Starting at $2,495 CAD
Your final project scope will be confirmed before work begins.
The standard Platform Build includes:
- Platform strategy
- Customized WordPress author website
- Up to six core pages
- Reader journey strategy
- Email audience foundation
- Foundational on-page SEO
- Google Analytics 4 setup
- Google Search Console setup
- Indie Author Marketing Dashboard
- Guided Website Copy Framework
- Two consolidated revision rounds
- Final QA and launch
- Platform Handoff Guide
- 60-minute handoff call
- 14 days of post-launch bug and clarification support
Optional copywriting:
Full website copywriting: typically $750–$1,200 CAD
Individual additional page copywriting: $175 CAD per page
Additional requirements outside the standard project will be discussed and scoped before they’re added.
BUILD FOR MORE THAN THE NEXT BOOK
Your next book shouldn’t require rebuilding your marketing from scratch.
Your catalogue may grow.
Your audience may grow.
The way you market your books will change.
The foundation should be able to grow with you.
We’ll build the website, reader journey, audience foundation, discoverability and measurement pieces around the author career you’re building—not just the book you’re promoting today.
A stronger home for this book. And somewhere for the next one to go.